Fighting children’s cancer

Fitness club hosts annual St. Jude fundraiser

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A fundraiser at ROK Health & Fitness in East Rockaway last weekend netted more than $8,000, which will help fund the fifth annual St Jude Walk/Run on Saturday at the Sunrise Mall in Massapequa.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Long Island chapter, is funded by donations and specializes in research and the treatment of pediatric cancer and other deadly childhood diseases.

“There were seven donation classes which instructors volunteered to do, and a variety of raffles donated from restaurants, salons and merchants from East Rockaway, Lynbrook and the neighboring towns,” said Patti Mandel-Birnbaum, a member of the Walk/Run committee and event staff and the captain of team ROK On, who coordinated the event last weekend.

On Friday, participants sweated in Zumba and spin classes. The following day they pushed through a total body workout, the Boxing Battlefield and hatha yoga with a twist. On Sunday there was a spin and Pilates class. The activities were donation-based specialty classes designed for the event, Mandel-Birnbaum said. There were also raffles and a grand prize.

As in years past, Lynbrook Bagels supplied breakfast for the fundraiser, and will do the same for the walkathon. The shop’s owner, Deena Clancy, said she was honored to help raise money and give back to the community “by feeding all the wonderful people that donated to this event.”

“Our members, staff and community all reached out to make this event a tremendous success, and we can’t thank them all enough,” said Michael Hawksby, co-owner of ROK. The club’s director of operations, Krista Risolo, added that the success of the event every year shows the greatness of the ROK community. “Our members, as well as the South Nassau community, come together to help support such a great cause,” she said.

Mandel-Birnbaum’s husband, Steve Birnbaum, a volunteer for St. Jude, had high praise for his wife. “I’m inspired by the hard work and dedication my wife puts into helping the children of St Jude Children’s Hospital,” he said. “I’m so proud of her and the amount of money she raised this year.”

“This has become a wonderful community event, with a tremendous amount of local support, and especially [from] my dear ROK family,” Mandel-Birnbaum said. “When people ask me why I do this, it’s simply because I can. It’s important to pay it forward in life and embrace gratitude.”

For more information on Saturday’s event, visit www.StJude.org/walk.